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Single-origin beans, exacting brewing methods at Cafecito

December 8, 2010 | 9:44
am

Here's an early look at what's coming in this week's Food section:

The Heliotrope Cafecito is a sweet little place. It's down the block from Los Angeles City College and it's built for students: lots of inside seating, big communal tables. Music is an iPod running through a guitar amp. There aren't any fancy barista uniforms, just some chilled-out youngsters behind the counter — though there's a gleam of fanaticism in their eye when they take up their coffee-making implements.

Angel Orozco — founder, roaster and co-owner — started on the supply side of the coffee business. He became a roaster, then a farmers market vendor and finally opened the first retail location of Cafecito on Hoover Avenue earlier this year, and the second location on Heliotrope a little more than a month ago. They'll do you all the perfect foamed little espresso drinks you want, but if you chat for a while with the folks behind the counter, you'll figure out where the shop's heart is at: single-origin, Central American coffees, roasted light and individually dripped, to show off the peculiar soul of each bean. Read more: The Find: Cafecito Organico.